Review Tuesday: Nokia Lumia 635

After years of REFUSING to get on the smart phone bandwagon, my old dumb-phone was getting as expensive to own as something more modern. So I let Mrs. Bax0jayz talk me into getting something newer.

LUMIA 635 4G LTE
from Virgin Mobile USA

My friend's mom has had a couple Windows phones and she's been asking ME (?!?!) to help hwer figure them out. What did I know? At the time I still had a dumb-phone and never touched Win8. How was I supposed to figure it out? But with a couple swipes, I found everything I needed. So when time came for me to get a phone, I decided to go with a Windows phone.

First, what service to choose? I had been a user of Tracfone for years. Since I wasn't a big mobile user, I liked their inexpensive prepaid options. I was paying as little as $6/month. How could I complain? 

Then this tax season came around. Everything was just busier than ever and I found myself burning through my minutes. My wife suggested that I should switch over to Virgin Mobile and get more bang for my buck, and I did. I ordered the phone, on sale, from Best Buy for only $50. I think there are still sales popping up here and there for only $30. Couple that with monthly service for only $35, and I was rolling. 

You open the box and you have a phone, instructions and a high-speed charger. I have timed this, I have charged the phone to full in about two hours, and the best battery life I've gotten from it is three days. I was getting drive days out of my dumb phone, so not too shabby. 

The Windows 8 platform on a phone takes a little adjusting. It's not like the Android operating system which I am already familiar with. At first Win8 seems a bit stuffy and stiff. As if it is a stone that can't be changed. With a little time you learn the tricks to customizing your phone to your exact needs. 

The operating system seems pretty stable as I haven't had too many glitches stumbling my way through with this thing. It's pretty fast and solid. Mine came with eight gigs internal, and I added a 32 gig micro SD card. 

The 4G LTE works very well. As does the Wi-Fi and regular phone connection. The 5MP camera takes nice pictures. You can easily back up this phone and sync your data with your other devices. I was pleased when it easily transferred my important information easily to my Surface. 

However, there are downsides. The App Store seems sorely lacking. Microsoft seems to block a lot, such as Google Chrome and Google Docs. Those would've been very useful. The camera has no flash. I have only had this a month, so that's all I can find fault with, so far.

I find this phone to be a great deal for the money.It works well, it's stable and has good battery life. Microsoft has really been surprising / impressing me lately. 

Virgin Mobile

Best Buy

Amazon

Microsoft